Friday, June 24, 2016

"Star-Struck, Star-Studded, and Star-Spangled"!!

Here it is June--late June--where does the time go? You may or may not remember that my words for 2016 are "Collaborations and Challenges". A collaboration is working jointly with others, especially in an intellectual endeavor. The challenge definition that seems to apply here is "to arouse or stimulate, especially by presenting with difficulties."

It's time for another challenging collaboration with my friends, Paul Parichan and Melanie Schow. In February, we collaborated on a series of 7 hearts for Valentine's Day with Paul's wire, my painting and lettering, and Melanie's beading. We decided it was time to do it again and this time we are doing 7 stars which will be unveiled and available at Sanger Art Hop and Shop on Saturday, June 25th.

The way it works is this: Paul starts off by making 7 shapes (stars, in this case) out of wire.

Then I trace them on watercolor paper, paint and embellish them, cut them out, and sew them onto the wire "frame".

Next, I pass them on to Melanie and she adds beads and a hanger. She returns them to me and I add a ribbon to hang them from and they are done! Here are the seven finished stars (without ribbons):

The interesting thing is that each one of us finds something challenging about the experience, but the collaboration effect seems to make it a positive challenge which often becomes a learning experience. When you are given something already started, you have to work with what you are given and it may be necessary to problem solve and do the next step in a way that you wouldn't normally work. I am glad that Paul and Melanie were willing and eager to participate and I think we are all pleased with the way the seven stars turned out. Tomorrow, we'll find out what other people think of them!

In February, we sold all 7 hearts the day of Art Hop and we're wondering if that may happen again on Saturday with the stars. The stars are each priced at $25 and we divide the proceeds, with a bit also going into our Art Hop expense fund. In November, we will be doing trees since Sanger is "The Nation's Christmas Tree City" and maybe at some point in time, we'll do a "Freestyle" show and sale with a lot of different shapes and quotes and no theme at all. Stay tuned for future "Collaborations" and you'll see that they don't have to be "Challenges" at all.

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Available Paintings and Prints

All of the paintings shown in the slideshow can be purchased as quality giclee prints in a variety of sizes and also as greeting cards.The paintings marked SOLD are still available in prints of any desired size and also as greeting cards which are priced at $4 each.

If you double click on an individual painting in the slideshow, you will be taken to the Picasa Web Gallery where you can see more information about the painting, including title, size, media, and price.

Welcome to "Mixed Messages"

Hi! I'm Kathleen Mattox, a mixed media artist from the central valley of California. I love painting large, colorful works that start with watercolor and go on to add many different elements including pen, collage, texture medium, stamping, watercolor crayons and so on. I love using words and symbols to convey a message, with different types of mixed media--hence the title "Mixed Messages"!

I hope you enjoy my blog and that you will comment and leave feedback so I can improve it slowly, over time, and keep it interesting and informative. Thank you for visiting!